JUlian Nagelsmann took his winning goal scorer in his arms and then clapped his hands briefly. RB Leipzig did not let the favorite scare Union Berlin slow them down and remains the first pursuer of front runner FC Bayern. The Saxons beat the surprise team 1-0 (0-0) on Wednesday evening and are second in the Bundesliga with 35 points at the halfway point of the season. Substitute Emil Forsberg (70th) ensured the decision with his goal for the clearly superior Leipzig.
“It took a lot of patience, Union defended very well,” said RB sports director Markus Krösche on Sky. “Over the entire 90 minutes” it was a deserved victory. The four points behind Bayern are “definitely still in the green”. Berlin’s manager Oliver Ruhnert found that his team had gone “absolutely to the limit”. Missed “a goal”, but RB deserved to win.
Restless initial phase
The guests, who were often very strong this season, caused another surprise before kick-off. Florian Hübner and Cedric Teuchert from Berlin, who are at the center of DFB investigations, were in the starting line-up. Hübner, against whom racism allegations were raised after the game against Leverkusen and a dispute with Bayer professional Nadiem Amiri, was injured in training on Monday.
The allegations had “left their mark,” said coach Urs Fischer shortly before the kick-off at Sky. “But we had enough time to finish the topic.” The club that rejects the allegations is waiting for the results of the DFB control committee. “The investigations are complex and are still ongoing,” the DFB announced on Wednesday.
In the game, Teuchert also ensured a restless early phase of Leipzig’s central defense. Union started with the confidence of the successful past games against the top clubs in the league. Leipzig often had the ball, but initially came too rarely dangerously close to the Berlin penalty area. In attack, Alexander Sörloth received another chance after his first league goal against Borussia Dortmund.
Nagelsmann’s joker
Nagelsmann was meanwhile with his hands in his pockets on the sidelines, his team lacked ideas against well-positioned Berliners. Christopher Nkunku missed the first good Leipzig chance in front of the Union goal, his shot went far past the target (37th). The guests withdrew even further during this phase. Until half time, the Berliners didn’t shoot at goal.
After an hour Nagelsmann brought his Joker Forsberg for Kevin Kampl, Fischer even made two changes. Leon Dajaku, on loan from Bayern in mid-January, made his league debut for Union. Leipzig became more active, Nkunku failed after a fine pass from Marcel Sabitzer at the Berlin goalkeeper Andreas Luthe (65th). Sabitzer himself shot just over three minutes later from 20 meters – then Dani Olmo passed through to Forsberg, who scored his fourth goal of the season. Sörloth just missed the 2-0 header (87th).
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